The real estate market underwent positive development in the first sixmonths of 2014 as inventories decreased. The number of successfultransactions strongly increased while many construction projects haveresumed their works, the Vietnam Economic News reported.

Statisticsfrom localities showed sign of improving real estate market. About4,000 transactions were successful in Hanoi in the first half of 2014,doubling against the same period last year. In Ho Chi Minh City, themost of the sucessful transactions were apartments with a price below 15million VND per sq.m.


Notably, housing projectsfor low-income people in Hanoi sold very well. For example, more than2,000 apartments for low-income people in the Dang Xa Urban Area havebeen built and sold through two stages. As soon as the third-stageconstruction of this project commenced, 500 applications have beenreceived from customers who wanted to buy or hire apartments. Similarly,another housing project for low-income people in southwest Linh Dam,which is expected to provide 228 apartments, has received 500 buyingorders.

According to statistics from the Ministry ofConstruction, the total value of real estate inventories in the firstfive months of 2014 decreased by approximately 45.03 trillion VND orover 35 percent compared with the first quarter of 2013 (the decreasewas 36 percent in Hanoi and 45 percent in Ho Chi Minh City).

In Hanoi, inventories have decreased by 442 houses and 1,170 apartments,and the number of successful housing transactions in the first sixmonths of 2014 equaled 145 percent of that in 2013, according to thedada rereased from the Hanoi People's Committee.

Based onpositive changes in the real estate market, Vietnam National Real EstateAssociation (VNREA) Deputy Secretary General Tran Ngoc Quang said therehad been optimistic information about the market. Notably, thetransactions of medium-scale apartments have surged. Sharing thisopinion, VNREA Secretary General Phan Thanh Mai said the real estatemarket would continue improving its performance later this year.

Manyexperts shared the opinion that decreases in the lending interest ratesoffered by banks would contribute to boosting the real estate market.

FromJune 16, customers can mortgage the contracts they signed to buyapartments from projects which have had their foundations built toborrow bank loans from the 30 trillion VND loan package.

TheMinistry of Finance recently issued Circular 48/2014/TT-BTC guiding theimplementation of Governmental Resolution 01/NQ-CP regarding theextension of the payment of land use charges and the cost of buyingstate-owned housing. The circular took effect on June 10, 2014, allowingmany real estate projects to delay the payment of land use chargeswithin 24 months.

The Vietnamese real estate market is attractingforeign investors. In the first six months of 2014, real estate rankedthird among all economic sectors in terms of foreign investmentattraction with nine new projects registered.

CBRE VietnamManaging Director Marc Towsend said the Vietnamese real estate marketwas moving and warming up. Foreign investors, especially Asianinvestors, are boosting their investment in Vietnam - this is a goodsign of the domestic real estate market.-VNA